U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan debated energy Sunday.
In duel editorials in the Greenville Daily Reflector, the Salisbury Republican and the Greensboro Democrat outlined their respective policy approaches to high gas prices.
Dole called for a "kitchen sink" strategy: Conservation, alternative energy research, more drilling in Alaska, allowing exploration for drilling off North Carolina's coast, more exploration of oil shale drilling, releasing a third of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and investigating market fraud.
"At a time when North Carolina families are getting hammered by skyrocketing gas prices, we need a comprehensive approach to secure our energy future," she wrote.
Hagan blamed oil companies and called for: Halting deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increasing pressure on OPEC to boost supply, cracking down on speculators in oil futures, repealing tax breaks for oil companies and investing in renewable energy projects in North Carolina.
"It's not too late to turn this around but we need to stop posturing and start pursuing real relief for middle class families in both the long and short term," she wrote.
Comments
Re: Hagan, Dole offer energy plans
July 21, 2008 - 10:23am — FFC1304DOES EITHER ONE of them favor lifting all federal gasoline TAXES?
The government gets ridiculous profits off oil for doing nothing, but your 'leaders' dont want you to think like that.
Re: Dole's flip-flop reasoning
July 21, 2008 - 10:12am — danbesseDole was an opponent of drilling off the NC coast until the opinion poll numbers shifted, due to public anger over high gas prices. There's no deep or long-term policy reasoning involved here. Net economic benefit to our state, environmental risks, and consistent energy policies are all irrelevant to her position. It's pure election-year politics.
Re: Hagan, Dole offer energy plans
July 21, 2008 - 9:57am — semipoliticoIt's amazing to me that Dole would advocate drilling off the coast of North Carolina. Now, I know that this has been almost a consensus within the republican party in Washington, but I don't know if it is a consensus within the republican community- especially in states such as NC where one of our biggest industries is our beach tourism. With the risks that off shore drilling poses to natural environments, it seems that this may be a sensitive issue for North Carolinians. Maybe Dole made a calculated decision based on how many are for drilling compared to how many would want to protect the NC coast from risks associated with the drilling. I don't know though, with all the talk against drilling, such as the notion that it won't help us for at least 6 years, it seems that there is a chance for more people to be against coastal oil drillings, and with Dole's spot far from locked up, that may not be good for her.
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